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Dagger

The reasons for staying hidden as a psychopath should be obvious. As damning as it can be to be revealed as transgender, the revelation only hurts in certain circles. There is little benefit, anywhere in life, to acknowledge oneself as psychopathic to another. From destroying social networks to indefinite sentences in prison, the revelation is simply not worth it. In fact, because of such, don’t take the PCL-R unless you are in the fortuitous situation in which no records and no reports of your score will exist. Being found out is simply not worth it.

The first, and most self-serving, reason to remain hidden as a psychopath is that it lets you get closer to people, either for friendship or for manipulative purposes. Non-psychopaths simply do not understand what psychopathy means and they most likely have a incorrect view based off movies and television shows in which psychopaths are universally portrayed as bloodthirsty monsters. We often forgive those we respect and consider ‘good’ people for the occasional moral lapse. If we have a predisposition to believe one is amoral or immoral, then we scrutinize much more closely. That said, I reiterate that non-psychopaths are also prone to doing immorality, however they get the benefit of the doubt because of the preconceptions society has of psychopathy. Being a puppetmaster can only be realized if the puppet has no clue that they are having their strings pulled. Maybe you will let them walk on their own, but if you ever want the ability to manipulate them, you must stay hidden. A dagger in plain sight causes people to avoid you, while the hidden dagger can be used at the most opportune time.

As alluded to in the previous paragraph, people tend to run away from the known psychopath. Building social networks can be difficult and/or come crashing down if psychopathy is revealed. When I was first digesting the diagnoses, it was 50/50 as to whether ‘friends’ of mine stuck around or left in disgust. Such phobia eliminates any positive discourse over psychopathy. We need not be parasites to those we care about, but many think we must. We simply perform a calculus in determining whether our relationships are worth it and we do so without value-judgement. The non-psychopath is also calculating a risk and reward when they find out about one’s psychopathy, but they tend to miscalculate because of the stigma and fear associated with the condition. Reiterated, the psychopath makes no value-judgement of another person; that is an advantage we hold over the non-psychopath. However, this advantage is irrelevant when your acquaintances leave you because of their own failings.

Finally, if the authorities every found out that you are psychopathic, it could cost you your freedom. Everyone, psychopath or not, has broken some law at some point in their lives. However, the system believes the non-psychopath can be rehabilitated through fine or imprisonment. While maybe the speeding ticket won’t invite suspicion, the drunken bar fight very well could. And that may be enough to be branded as a violent predator that is incarcerated indefinitely if you are a psychopath. If they force you to take the PCL-R that is one thing, but for God’s sake don’t ever let them find out otherwise.

As a transgenderist, I hide behind my cloak. As a psychopath, I hide my dagger. In order to keep my potential playtoys unaware, I must. To maintain my social circles, I also must. Finally to avoid indefinite incarceration should I ever cross the borderline, which I do not plan to, I must remain hidden. The psychopath intends to play the game well. It may be unfair to hide our traits from those we play against, but it is merely a tactical advantage. The ultimate in strategic play is to use one’s abilities well and to take advantage of others’ weaknesses. It is no different than exploiting the slow-footed defender with a cross-field pass. You don’t need to broadcast such a pass, however.